OHL boss: Canadian net hopes will thrive after import ban lifted

But the Canadian Hockey League has lifted its five-year-old import goaltender ban ahead of Thursday’s draft because it believes this country is no longer lagging in creating a pipeline for future top stoppers.

“We’re pleased and more than comfortable that specialized goaltending development is at a place now that is comparable to other positional players,” CHL president David Branch, also the OHL’s commissioner, said. “That was important. We had to make sure we could satisfy the needs of arguably the most important position in the game, and absolutely, (the ban) has been a successful (addition) to the overall goalie development program here in Canada.”

You’ll need to be even more patient to see a potential pay out of that approach.

The Vezina Trophy for the NHL’s top goaltender — and its nominees — have been dominated by Europeans much of the last decade.

In last week’s NHL draft, there were more European-developed goaltenders than CHL netminders picked for the fourth time in five years. There were fewer CHL goalies selected in the last five years (30) than in the half-decade before the ban (44).

Branch said the trickle of European goaltenders to the United States Hockey League and North American Hockey League while the CHL door was closed — and then getting drafted from those leagues — wasn’t a factor in dropping the rule now.

“It was more back to getting annual requests from people associated with goalies in various parts of Europe coupled with our own teams saying, ‘Hey, I think the time is appropriate to re-enter import goalies,’” he said. “It’s been a matter of discussion for a few years now and this has been greeted favourably.”

The ban was born at the request of Hockey Canada and driven by a need to work on a national and regional development system for goaltenders. Joe Birch, the OHL’s senior director of hockey development and special events, was tasked with setting up specialized programs and providing resources for instructors.

His work has become the model for the CHL’s other two leagues.

“Virtually every team has a skills coach, a goalie coach, a nutritionist and a sports psychologist,” Branch said. “It’s all part of the package now and there is competition out there in the area of player development. That’s what drives you to get better and, to the credit of our teams, they responded in a big way.”

The same obstacles remain.

Goaltending is an expensive position. There is a lot of pressure, even at the introductory levels, and it is easy to become discouraged.

Many parents want to save their children that angst.

“I firmly believe goaltending might be the safest position in all of hockey to play, given the advancements in equipment and the like,” Branch, also a minor hockey coach, said. “A lot of a goaltender’s development rests with the young person. He or she has to want to play it. If they want to, they will find a way (to succeed).”

Now that Europeans are back in the net mix, the OHL’s work with minor hockey programs across the province can’t stall, or it’s back to Square 1 again.

“There’s always more work to be done,” Branch said, “but we’re seeing great signals. When we run our combine, we have a separate component for the goalies. Their athleticism is through the roof now. Our game is so different in terms of the commitment to speed, strength and skill, and our goaltenders mirror that.

“A byproduct of giving these kids a chance is a new and improved goalie.”

It will be interesting to see Thursday if a notable number of CHL teams jump at the opportunity to bring in European goalies or if the re-introduction only causes a ripple. The London Knights, for example, haven’t dipped into that market since Russian Igor Bobkov in 2010.

Their great successes lately at the position have been in signing American free agents.

The argument against the ban always has been the best development league in the world should want the best players in it, no matter what citizenship they hold.

But there will continue to be a league-wide charting of Canadian progress in the crease.

“You want to have more goalies presenting themselves with an opportunity to succeed and move on to the next level,” Branch said. “There are a lot of opportunities there beyond junior hockey. One measuring stick is increasing the number of Canadian goalies in the National Hockey League. It’s the easiest way to have a success indicator and let’s continue to improve on that front.”

MOVING CLAUSE: The CHL has taken another step to make its league more appealing to European players. They have dropped a rule stating first-year imports could not be traded until the following season.

“We’ve said, ‘come and try it,’” Branch said, “and by mid-December, there will be a period of time that player could be traded if he’s not happy. But he’s got to be registered and playing for a CHL team for that to happen.”

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